Hearings set for couple

Thursday

Dec 5, 2013 at 3:55 PM

John Ford

Court dates have been set for two people arrested in late November after a drug raid at their rural Granby home.

Noe Soto and Bobbie Soto, each 40 and each of Granby, face charges of distribution of a controlled substance and child endangerment. The distribution charge, a Class B felony, carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison if a conviction is reached, while the child endangerment count is a Class C felony and carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.

Noe Soto is scheduled to be back in court on Dec. 18 for a bond appearance hearing. Newton County Associate Circuit Court Judge Greg Stremel will preside. Noe Soto is currently in the Newton County Jail in lieu of a $100,000 bond. A legal representative was not listed in electronic court records on Case.Net.

Meanwhile, Bobbie Soto is free on a percentage bond and will be back in court Jan. 13 for a preliminary hearing, also before Stremel. She is being represented by Joplin attorney Cary C. Selsor.

Authorities served the warrant at 10577 Cherokee Road in Granby on Thursday, seizing 95 grams of methamphetamine, various drug paraphernalia, and several thousand dollars in cash.

Four children, ages 2 to 16, were taken into protective custody.

Noe Soto also faces distribution charges in an earlier case, which was moved on Nov. 15 from McDonald County on a change of venue. A preliminary hearing in that case has been set for Dec. 9 in Newton County Division II Associate Circuit Court Judge Greg Stremel’s courtroom.

In March, Noe Soto was charged with driving while under the influence of drugs. On Friday, Newton County Prosecutor Jake Skouby filed a motion to revoke bond in that case.

In 2009, Soto entered an Alford plea in McDonald County Associate Circuit Court to a charge of second-degree assault. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail.

An Alford plea isn’t an admission of guilt, but rather that the state has enough evidence to make a guilty conviction likely.

• • •An Oklahoma man arrested at a Newton County residence on drug charges will be back in court.

Shawn Moore, 52, of Quapaw, is slated to appear before Newton County Presiding Judge Timothy Perigo for a pre-trial conference on Jan. 6. Moore is being represented by Carthage attorney Kellie Lyn Duckering.

Moore faces a count of possession of a controlled substance, a Class C felony punishable by up to seven years in prison if a conviction is reached, and assault on a law enforcement officer, a Class B charge that carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.